My thoughts on the Phillies season.

Jamie Moyer wins his fifth game of the season as the Phils defeat the Brew Crew in a throwback game, 9-5.

While wearing their old uniforms from their previous period of success, the modern Phils, behind the pitching of the seemingly ageless Jamie Moyer, defeat the Brewers, 9-5.

The Phils took a quick 2-0 lead in the first as, with one man on, and with two men out, Ryan Howard hits a two-run home run, his sixth home run of the season, knocking in Shane Victorino, who had earlier singled. The Phils added to their lead in the second, as, with one man on, and with nobody out, Wilson Valdez hits an RBI double, scoring Raul Ibanez, who had earlier doubled, giving the Phils a 3-0 lead. The lead then evaporates in the Brewers’ half of the second by three swings of the bat. Prince Fielder made it a 3-1 Phils’ lead as he hits a lead-off home run, his fifth home run of the year. Two batters later, with one man out, Jim Edmonds made it a 3-2 Phils’ lead as he hit a solo home run, his third home run of the year. Then two batters later, now with two men out, George Kottaras tied the game up at three-all as he hits a solo home run, his third home run of the season. The Phils then regained the lead in the fourth as Ibanez hits a solo home run, his fourth home run of the season, to give the Phils a 4-3 lead. Four batters later, the Phils took a 6-3 lead as Victorino hits a two-run triple, knocking in Valdez, who had earlier tripled, and Paul Hoover, who had earlier walked, and moved up to second on Jamie Moyer’s sacrifice bunt, 1-3. The Phils then added to their lead in the sixth as, with the bases loaded, via Valdez being safe on a throwing error by Manny Parra, a single by Hoover, sending Valdez up to second base, and a fielding error by Parra as he drops a Moyer sacrifice bunt attempt, moving Valdez and Hoover both up a base, while Moyer was safe at first, and with no one out, Victorino hits an RBI single, scoring Valdez, and giving the Phils a 7-3 lead, while moving Hoover to third, and Moyer up to second. The Phils then made it 8-3 as Placido Polanco hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Hoover. The Brewers tried to come back in the seventh as, with the bases loaded, via a single to Edmonds and walks to Alcides Escobar, which send Edmonds to second base, and to pinch hitter Craig Counsell, moving both Edmonds and Escobar up a base, and with one man out, Rickie Weeks hits into an RBI force out to short, 6-4, as Edmonds scores, making it an 8-4 Phils’ lead, forcing out Counsell at second base, before Chase Utley commits a throwing error as he attempts to double up Weeks, allowing Escobar to score, making it an 8-5 Phils’ lead, while Weeks moves up to second on the bad throw. The Phils gets a run back in the ninth as, Utley hits a lead-off home run, his ninth home run of the season. Jose Contreras then comes in and pitches a scoreless ninth, ending the game by getting Corey Hart to line out to short.

Jamie Moyer receives the win as he pitches six and one third innings, giving up five runs, only four of which are earned, on five hits and three walks, while he strikes out three. His record is now 5-2 with a 4.57 ERA. David Herndon records his first hold of the season as he pitches two-thirds of an inning, striking out a batter, Danys Baez receives his third hold of the year as he pitches a scoreless inning, giving up two hits. Jose Contreras also pitches a scoreless inning, giving up a hit, as he strikes out one. Randy Wolf took the lost as he pitches five innings, giving up six runs on seven hits and two walks, while he strikes out two. His record is now 3-3 with an ERA of 4.66. Manny Parra pitches two innings, giving up two runs, both unearned, on three hits, while he strikes out three. Claudio Vargas pitches a 1-2-3 scoreless inning, striking out a batter. Mitch Stetter pitches two-third of an inning, giving up a run on one hit and a hit batter, while he strikes out a batter. Todd Coffey pitches a third of an inning, getting out the only man he would face.

The Phils had eleven hits in the game, with Shane Victorino leading the team with three hits, two singles and a triple, as he knocks in three runs. He was followed by Raul Ibanez and Wilson Valdez who had two hits each, with Ibanez’s hits being a double and a solo home run, knocking in a run, while Valdez’s hits were a double and a triple, knocking in a run. Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth and Paul Hoover had the other four Phils’ hit, with Utley and Howard’s hits being home run, with Howard’s being a two-run shot, with Utley knocking in one run and Howard two, while Werth and Hoover’s hits were singles. Placido Polanco knocks in the other Phil run with a sac fly.

The Phils (21-13, 1st East), continue their three-game series with the Brewers (15-20, 3rd Central) with a nationally televised afternoon game on Fox. The game is being played at Miller Park and will begin at 4:10 pm. The Phils will send to the mound Joe Blanton (0-2, 4.97), who is coming off a lost against the Braves on May 8, as he went six innings, giving up three runs on five hits and two walks, while striking out three, in the Phils’ 4-1 lost. He is still trying to get his first win of the season after coming off the disabled list. The Brewers will send to the mound Chris Narveson (3-0, 5.06), who is coming off a win against the D-backs on May 9, as he went five and two-thirds innings, giving up a run on three hits and a walk, while he struck out eight, in the Brewers’ 6-1 win. He will be trying to even the series for the brew crew. The Phils will be going for the series win this afternoon, and give Blanton his first win of the year.

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.